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Aussies 'happy to leave Commonwealth'

Only about one third of all Australians would be upset if the nation kissed goodbye to the Commonwealth, a new survey has found.

Australians were found to be far less attached to their membership of the 53-member body than developing countries, including India, in a poll released by the Royal Commonwealth Society in London on Monday.

More than 6,000 people from seven Commonwealth member countries - Australia, Canada, Great Britain, India, Jamaica, Malaysia and South Africa - took part in the survey to mark the Commonwealth's 60th anniversary.

Just 25 per cent of the 1,020 Australians polled said they would be "sorry" if Australia gave up its membership of the Commonwealth, while another 10 per cent would be "appalled". But 38 per said they "wouldn't mind one way or the other" and 10 per cent would be "fairly pleased" while another nine per cent would be "delighted". The rest did not know.

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Australians viewed Asia as being most important (43 per cent) to their homeland ahead of the United States (25 per cent), the Commonwealth (22 per cent) and Europe (three per cent).

They also nominated the United Nations (64 per cent) and APEC (61 per cent) as being more valuable as organisations than the Commonwealth (59 per cent).

Most Australians (84 per cent) correctly identified the Queen as the head of the Commonwealth, compared to 37 per cent who didn't know in India.

However, unlike the other countries surveyed, Australians nominated Prince Charles as the person they wanted to see take over the Queen's Commonwealth role when she dies.

All other countries preferred having the role rotated among Commonwealth members.

Australians appeared slightly confused about what the Commonwealth's function was, with 37 per cent unable to name its activities.

Overall, the survey found people in developing countries were twice as likely to think the Commonwealth was important compared to developed countries.

Indians valued the Commonwealth more than the US or South Asia while South Africans put it above Africa.

However, Canadians valued the US more and Britons put the Commonwealth in third spot behind Europe and the US.

The findings follow a separate survey released in March which found the Commonwealth had suffered a major drop in popularity in its homeland of Britain, where most knew little about the Commonwealth's functions.

Royal Commonwealth Society director Danny Sriskandarajah said knowledge about the Commonwealth was at a low and more needed to be done by member nations to secure a "second wind" for the organisation.

He hoped a new website being launched by the Society to gather ideas on how to boost the Commonwealth's profile would help increase its popularity.

"Only a third of people polled could name any activity carried out by the Commonwealth and only half knew the Queen was the head," he said.

"A quarter of Jamaicans think President Barack Obama is the head, and one in 10 Indians and South Africans think Kofi Annan is head.

"While few people dislike the Commonwealth, our polls show that not enough people know much about it or have reason to love it."